The Decision Has Been Made

DeBary, FL.

87 deg. Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High 89F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%


We took our little trip over to Crystal River, FL. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive to get over there from DeBary, but it was a nice drive on FL.Rt. 42 and some other small roads as we neared our destination. That is, all except the first part of our trip, when it started raining so hard that we couldn't see anything, and then we came upon an accident or something that had US 17/92 completely closed off!! 

They just turned us off on a side street and if we wouldn't have had our GPS turned on, I don't know how we would have found our way around the section of road that was closed. Of course all of this time it continued raining very hard and I could only think of what it would have been like if we were driving one of our big Motorhomes instead of our little car!! 

Anyway, we made it to our destination, King;s Bay Lodge, and it turned out to be just as advertised, a nice little place, in a very quiet part of town. :-) 

This is the view of part of the bay, from just outside of our room. Not too shabby!

We spent 4 nights at King's Bay and then headed back home, refreshed and ready to get back to normal day-to-day activities. 

OK, now to get to the title of this post. 

We've decided to head up North this summer. We've made some changes to our travel plans though, and so will not be gone for as long as we were last summer. We're planning on leaving here around the 1st or 2nd of August and heading all the way up to Alexandria, Mn. to attend Ed and Denise's wedding on the 11th of the month. (Ed is Linda's nephew). From there, we'll head up to Blackduck, Mn. (which is way up  North of Bemidji), to see Linda's cousin Bruce and his wife Jody. We haven't seen them in a really long time and so we figured since we're within a short day's drive, it would be a good time to go. 

After we leave Bruce and Jody's, we'll head down to the Wisconsin Dells for Linda's family reunion. It starts on the 19th of August, and we'll get there earlier than that, but we can always find something to do at "The Dells". 

After the reunion, we'll head down to Champaign, IL where we'll start with doctor's visits and hopefully be able to spend some time visiting with friends and relatives. We'll be in Illinois for about a month before heading to IN, KY, NC, and VA. Then we'll head back down here to FL, arriving about the 1st of November. 

Although this sounds like a long, busy trip, I've got quite of few extra days scattered about during this trip, so we can stop for an extra day or two if necessary,  and, we'll actually be only gone for 3 months instead of 4 months like we were last year.

I've already made hotel reservations for our stay at the wedding and for our stay at "the Dells", so I guess we'd better go. ;-)  

Linda and I are doing well. I still have lots of fatigue, but it's getting better, and I'm hoping that once I start doing more, it will improve even more. 

"You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try"  (Quote by Dolly Parton).


Bye!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy and Packing Up

DeBary, FL.

78 deg. clear, NE wind @ 8 mph.

Forecast = Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.


Jim and Linda have been really busy since I've last posted. They've been gathering things up, packing them and then seeing if there''s enough room in Lily to get them into her trunk. They've just about got it figured out though and as of yesterday afternoon, have decided that they'll be able to get everything in. :-) 



In fact, about 2/3 of Lily's trunk is already packed!! 

We will be leaving here tomorrow, (Sunday), and will take 6 days to get up to Champaign, IL. We'll probably spend a couple of nights somewhere in Alabama, but like always, it's written in pencil and Jim was sure to pack that big eraser of his. ;-) Actually, I don't think that Jim is going to have problems as far as stamina is concerned, he's been doing a lot the last few days and seems to have quite a bit of energy. 

I'm getting really excited about going on a "'Road Trip". I've never been on one in a car, and don't really know what to expect. I suppose I'll have to ride in the back seat, but i'd really like to be able to see out of the windows. Also, I've never been in a Motel, so that'll be another new experience for me. I guess it's going to kind of a re-learning experience for Jim and Linda too. Jim says that he thinks the last time he and Linda stayed in a Motel was way back in 2001, just before we moved into Maraiah, their 35' Winnebago MH!!

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  a new adventure begins. I don't know how this will go, but I'm sure we'll work it out somehow. At least it's not as scary as when Jim and Linda sold almost everything they had and went Full-Timing. Living out of suitcases for an extended period of time, (probably about 3 months), will have it's challenges, but we've always been able to overcome them in the past. I don't see why this should be any different. 

As for me, I'm READY!!!!!

A Quote to Ponder, "One man with courage makes a majority."  Andrew Jackson

Woof!!!

A Little "Road Trip", Some Sad News but A Very Nice Visit

DeBary, FL.

80 deg. partly cloudy, SW wind @ 5 mph.

Forecast tonight = Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.


Tuesday, Jim had his last Radiation Treatment. He's very happy to have them over with. Going in every weekday was really the worst part of it. 

Tuesday was also the day that Jim suggested that he and Linda go on a "Road Trip" and take Lily and head over to Wildwood, FL to go to the Russel Stover's Candy Co. Store and stop and see Donna and Monte, (Rving friends since way back in 2001). 

So, Jim called Donna and asked if they'd be home on Wednesday? Well, then came the surprise. Donna told Jim that Monte had passed away!!!!!! :-(  Yep, you read that right!!! Donna told Jim that Monte had passed away last November the 20th!!!! 

Donna apologized for not letting Jim and Linda know, but she's been very busy trying to get everything straightened up since his passing. Well, Jim told her that they'd still like to come to see her for a few hours in the afternoon, if that would be alright. 

She said it would and that she'd really like to see them. 

So,  ,  ,  ,  , about 10:30 Wednesday morning, Jim and Linda took Lily and drove the close to 60 miles over to Wildwood. First they went to Stovers and then went out to eat at a Wendy's Restaurant. After that, (about 1:00 by this time), they headed over to see Donna. Parts of this visit were very sad as Donna told about Monte, but other parts of the visit were very nice and I'm sure Jim and Linda will be going back to see Donna again. 

It was late afternoon by the time they returned here to the house and by the time they came into the house, Jim was pretty beat! For supper, they just had sandwiches and then Jim took a nap. 

Both Jim and Linda said that Donna seemed to be doing pretty well.  She's strong and has a good attitude about the future.

Oh, and by the way, Lily did very well and provided a very comfortable ride for both Jim and Linda. ;-)  

Now, Jim and Linda are starting to get ready for a visit from Mike and his family, this coming Saturday!! They will be heading down to the "attractions area" for a 1 week vacation and are planning on stopping by both on the way down and the way back to North Carolina.

I sure hope they'll be able to stop for a few hours, It seems like ages since we've last seen them.


A Quote to Ponder : "The Language of friendship is not words but meanings."

                                   Henry David Thoreau


Woof!!!